shylevon
06-28-2005, 11:33 PM
Now, many of you have heard me speak of a place, a little island south of Wales, where the pellet trees grow wild, tall, and as far as the eyes can see, but most of you do not know that there is actually a little birdie or two amongst us that came from this mysterious place. Let me tell you the story of little Ruthie, and how she came to live in the United Kingdom, with her new momma Heather.
See, only birds inhabit this island, and no people have ever lived there. Oh, humans have visited the island and they brought with them pellets of all types and they planted them there and they come once a year to harvest the pellet crops. But as the pellet trees prospered they soon began to choke out all the natural vegetation that the birdies had grown to enjoy. Still, with no natural predators the birdie populace thrived and food could still be found amongst the roots of the large pellet trees. There were birds of every species and breed, both large and small. There were more birdies on the little island than you could shake a stick at, if you were the type of person who would shake a stick at a bunch of birdies. And regardless of the various species, everyone lived together in peace and they all got along fairly well. There were a few squabbles, but nothing that couldn’t be taken care of by the Birdie Council, with a few wing flaps and sharp chirps.
Little Ruthie was the third eggie hatched from her momma and daddy whose nest was very high up in a pellet tree. Ruthie was a very timid birdie, right from the day she hatched and she was a little bit afraid of almost everything that came her way. Her momma looked out for her and tried to teach her, in her own gentle way, not to be so afraid and Ruthie was learning to be brave. In fact, when she was only a few days old, she promised herself that she would do one very brave thing every week for the rest of her life. And that was a promise she meant to keep.
Little Ruthie was a blue masked lovie with a tiny sweet face as black as coal, and little eyes that were even blacker still. She had two older brothers, Raul and Ronaldo, and they had black faces just like hers. One day when Ruthie’s brothers were having an afternoon nap she crawled out from under her momma’s warm tummy for a breath of fresh air. Ruthie had never peeked over the edge of the nest so all she knew in the world were the top branches of the tree that her nest was built upon and the clear blue sky. Today was the day Ruthie was going to do something very brave. She peered up at her momma, who looked down at her with her soft dark face. Momma said, ‘It’s OK, Ruthie, don’t be afraid.’ Today was the day Ruthie was going to peer out of the nest, down at the whole world below their tree. So, after looking again at her momma for reassurance, and standing tall on her toes, she stretched her neck as far as it would stretch. She peered down upon the earth and gasped at its splendor. There were tall trees everywhere and on those trees were tiny berries that were all the colors of the rainbow in all shapes and sizes.
‘What are all those pretty things, Momma?’ inquired Ruthie.
‘Why those are pellets, and we live up in a pellet tree.’ ‘See all the trees, as far as the eye can see?’
There were an awful lot of pellet trees. There were trees up and down every hill, and the fallen pellets colored the soil a bright mixed hue of reds and greens and yellows, and there were even bright pellets bobbing merrily down the little stream that flowed happily under their nest.
‘Yes,’ said Ruthie, ‘They sure are pretty…Can we eat them?’
‘No,’ said momma ‘pellets are not very good, they are so hard they will crack your beak, and they will grind away in your tummy like river stones.’
Ruthie was hungry, and she thought she could hear river stones in her tummy right now. It was too bad you couldn’t eat the pellets. Truth is, you couldn’t swing a cat by the tail without hitting a pellet tree, if you were the sort of person who would swing a cat by the tail.
‘How did all the trees get here, momma?’
‘People visited and they planted the trees and they harvest the pellets every year for birdies that don’t get to eat very good food.’
Ruthie was beginning to believe she would not like people very much. She wondered if there were any nice people at all among the stick shakers and cat swingers, and anybody that would swing a cat by the tail would probably swing a birdie as well. Ruthie didn’t think that would be very nice, unless they came and gave old lady ‘Too a good swing. She was the cockatoo that lived four trees over to the north, and many times she had kept Ruthie and her family awake late into the night while she bickered on about some birdies transgression. Old lady ‘Too was one grouchy bird, and Ruthie giggled at the thought of someone giving the old bat a swing by her tail.
As Ruthie peered over the side of the nest she heard a faint chirping, and she looked about to see where it was coming from. There, in the tree next door to the east, was a little blue lovie with a face like hers, as black as coal with eyes that were even blacker. He peeped again, so Ruthie asked her momma who he was.
‘Oh, that’s Boaz, dear. He is a very nice little boy.’
‘Why is he peeping at me?’
‘He wants to be your friend. You can say hi to him if you want to.’
That was a very brave thing to do, to say hi to a total stranger, and Ruthie thought she had better leave that brave thing for another week. Peeking out of the nest was a very brave thing for this week, and that was enough. So instead of saying hello, Ruthie dove under her momma’s soft tummy and began her afternoon nap snuggled close and warm with her two brothers.
A few days later in the late afternoon, Ruthie’s momma and daddy went off to a birdie council meeting. They needed to discuss the pellets that were fouling the little stream and come up with a plan. The water had begun to taste downright ghastly, and they thought the floating pellets must be the culprits. Ruthie and her brothers were left alone in the little nest, so they played amongst themselves, waiting for their momma and daddy to return. At one point, Ruthie stretched her neck to look out the nest to see if Boaz was looking her way and she heard him give her the same little cheep that he had last week. Ruthie was not quite ready to say hello to him, but she was giving it some thought.
Just then she heard a loud, kerplunk, from right behind her. There in the nest sat a bright yellow pellet, which had just bounced off Ronaldo’s little head. Ronaldo cheeped out in terror and pain and soon Raul was peeping too. Ruthie began to chirp loudly; because every lovie knows that is what you do when something very scary has just happened. Old lady ‘Too took to scolding them from her perch, four trees to the north, for waking her from her late afternoon nap. The lovies ignored her and continued to cheep in terror. When they finally realized the pellet would do them no harm, they stopped the racket and began to contemplate.
‘What are we gonna do?’ shrieked Raul.
‘When pellets land in the nest, momma just kicks them out onto the ground.’ said Ronaldo, who was beginning to show the signs of a big lump forming on top of his little head. He was trying to pretend it didn’t hurt, but his black little eyes were rolling back in their sockets.
The three birdies tried to kick the pellet out of the nest, but succeeded only in hurting their tiny toes. While the three of them were pondering what to do next, Ruthie realized she was feeling very hungry. Just a little nibble should be okay; her momma didn’t say the pellets were poison or anything. She also realized that she had not done her one very brave thing for the week, so without giving it a good think over she stuck out her tongue and gave the pellet a lick.
‘Oh, my dear lord with wings,’ she shrieked, ‘that is the most horrid thing I have ever tasted.’ She tried frantically to get the awful taste off her little tongue. Her tummy began to hurt and she felt a little faint. Just then, another pellet fell from the top branches and hit her atop her little head. Now a yellow pellet and a green pellet sat in their nest, and the green pellet had a few tiny black feathers stuck to it; feathers that had once been firmly planted in Ruthie’s head. Ruthie didn’t know which was worse, the pain on her head or the awful taste on her tongue or the churning in her tummy. She felt dizzy and sick and although her brothers were chirping up a storm in fear, she just wanted her momma to come and take care of her. So, the three little birds huddled close, waiting for their parents to come back and praying no more pellets plunked them on the head and hoping the pellets that were now in their nest didn’t take root and destroy their cozy home.
Soon momma did come home and she saw the bumps on Ronaldo and Ruthie’s heads. She also saw the two big pellets in her nest and hastily kicked them to the ground.
‘Oh, Ruthie dear, you look so pale.’ she said.
‘I tasted a pellet, momma, I don’t feel very well.’
‘Oh, my dear lord with feathers,’ said momma, ‘are you all right? How is your tummy? I know you are hungry and your daddy is looking for some good food for you and he will be home soon.’
‘I don’t think I can eat, momma, I feel sore in my tummy.’ cried Ruthie. ‘I just want to go for a nap.’
A big tear rolled down Ruthie’s tiny cheek, as she felt very sorry for herself. With that, Ruthie dove under her momma’s soft belly and drifted off to sleep, with a really bad taste on her little tongue and a bit of a grumble in her little tummy. Her daddy spent the whole rest of the day picking the pellets off the upper branches and throwing them to the ground. No more pellets were going to hit his little babies on the head while they sat snuggled in their nest.
As the weeks passed, Ruthie continued to do one very brave thing every week and on one of those weeks she mustered up the courage to say hello to the cute little boy in the nest in the tree that was just next door to the east. They had quite a few chats, from across the way and Ruthie was beginning to agree with her momma, that he was a very nice boy. Ruthie’s brothers were learning to fly, and she tried her very best to fly too. She noticed that Boaz was trying to fly and do you know where he flew to on that very first flight? That’s correct, he flew straight to Ruthie’s nest, to make her acquaintance right proper. They were becoming fast friends, and Ruthie was very happy about that.
One morning, not long after Boaz’s first visit, her parents returned from a birdie council meeting and they had a little family gathering. Ruthie’s daddy told the three babies that when they grew up they would probably have to leave the little island. The food was getting scarce because of the overgrowth of pellet trees, and it was decided that many birds would have to make the journey to find other homes in other lands. Ruthie’s momma told them that they would have to leave soon. Ruthie asked if her momma and daddy would come with her.
‘No,’ her momma answered, ‘you know your daddy’s wings are not strong from the early arthritis. He could never make the trip.’
Ruthie asked about the family she would have to go live with. ‘Will they be stick shakers and cat swingers, momma?’
Her momma laughed, ‘No, Ruthie, we will find you a very nice family to live with.’
‘Will they feed me pellets, momma? What if they have no good food and all they give me is pellets?’ she cried.
‘They might try, but you don’t have to eat them if you don’t want to. Not ever, not never, okay?’
Ruthie was very sad, and asked if Boaz could go with her instead. ‘I will speak to his momma about it, but I do think that would be all right.’
Time went on and Ruthie continued to try to fly. Her momma helped her, but her two brothers teased her mercilessly. Little Boaz was at her side and he was very kind. He told her what a great job she was doing and he encouraged her. She would lean forward on the perch and bob her little head and hold her wings out at her sides, but her toes just wouldn’t let go of the branch. She would then stand tall and flap her little wings as hard as she could and say to herself, ‘This is all I have to do, flap really, really hard and I will fly.’ But she was very afraid of the long fall to the ground, and wondered if she would survive the drop, and how she would get back to the nest if she did fall. After much effort, and when Boaz saw how hard she was trying and how afraid she was he would say, ‘That’s okay, Ruthie, we will try again tomorrow. You are just not ready yet.’ Hearing that made Ruthie feel very safe, that she had a friend who understood her and didn’t push her too fast. She was glad that Boaz was going to be leaving the island with her. If she couldn’t have her momma and daddy with her, she would be fine with little Boaz looking out for her.
That’s how Ruthie and Boaz came to be living with their new momma, Heather. Ruthie did finally learn to fly and they set out early one morning after many tears and farewells from their families. Raul went to live in America, and Ronaldo set off for Australia. Little Ruthie wanted to go somewhere exotic, but Boaz knew her wings were not strong. He feared she might have the same early arthritis her daddy had so they chose instead to fly to a place much closer, and the United Kingdom sounded exotic enough. The feathers never did grow back thick on Ruthie’s head, even after the bump from the wayward pellet went away. She still has bad dreams about that pellet, how it hurt when it hit her and how awful it tasted. And she still has days where she is very self-conscience about the thin feathers atop her pretty little head.
Ruthie has never seen her new momma, Heather, ever swing a cat by its tail and she doubted her momma would ever shake a stick at a birdie, even thought old lady Crow down the street said she seen her do it more than once. Ruthie thought of old lady ‘Too every time she heard Mrs. Crow jabber on and she figured if her momma ever did shake a stick at the crow, she probably deserved it. Boaz still takes very good care of her, and encourages her not to be so afraid, and she still does one very brave thing every week, just like she promised herself.
One day, she thinks she might even get brave enough to fly over to her new momma Heather, and sit on her shoulder. Maybe she will do it and sit there for a whole minute one of these days. Yes, maybe one of these days when she is feeling very brave. Maybe one of these days very soon.
See, only birds inhabit this island, and no people have ever lived there. Oh, humans have visited the island and they brought with them pellets of all types and they planted them there and they come once a year to harvest the pellet crops. But as the pellet trees prospered they soon began to choke out all the natural vegetation that the birdies had grown to enjoy. Still, with no natural predators the birdie populace thrived and food could still be found amongst the roots of the large pellet trees. There were birds of every species and breed, both large and small. There were more birdies on the little island than you could shake a stick at, if you were the type of person who would shake a stick at a bunch of birdies. And regardless of the various species, everyone lived together in peace and they all got along fairly well. There were a few squabbles, but nothing that couldn’t be taken care of by the Birdie Council, with a few wing flaps and sharp chirps.
Little Ruthie was the third eggie hatched from her momma and daddy whose nest was very high up in a pellet tree. Ruthie was a very timid birdie, right from the day she hatched and she was a little bit afraid of almost everything that came her way. Her momma looked out for her and tried to teach her, in her own gentle way, not to be so afraid and Ruthie was learning to be brave. In fact, when she was only a few days old, she promised herself that she would do one very brave thing every week for the rest of her life. And that was a promise she meant to keep.
Little Ruthie was a blue masked lovie with a tiny sweet face as black as coal, and little eyes that were even blacker still. She had two older brothers, Raul and Ronaldo, and they had black faces just like hers. One day when Ruthie’s brothers were having an afternoon nap she crawled out from under her momma’s warm tummy for a breath of fresh air. Ruthie had never peeked over the edge of the nest so all she knew in the world were the top branches of the tree that her nest was built upon and the clear blue sky. Today was the day Ruthie was going to do something very brave. She peered up at her momma, who looked down at her with her soft dark face. Momma said, ‘It’s OK, Ruthie, don’t be afraid.’ Today was the day Ruthie was going to peer out of the nest, down at the whole world below their tree. So, after looking again at her momma for reassurance, and standing tall on her toes, she stretched her neck as far as it would stretch. She peered down upon the earth and gasped at its splendor. There were tall trees everywhere and on those trees were tiny berries that were all the colors of the rainbow in all shapes and sizes.
‘What are all those pretty things, Momma?’ inquired Ruthie.
‘Why those are pellets, and we live up in a pellet tree.’ ‘See all the trees, as far as the eye can see?’
There were an awful lot of pellet trees. There were trees up and down every hill, and the fallen pellets colored the soil a bright mixed hue of reds and greens and yellows, and there were even bright pellets bobbing merrily down the little stream that flowed happily under their nest.
‘Yes,’ said Ruthie, ‘They sure are pretty…Can we eat them?’
‘No,’ said momma ‘pellets are not very good, they are so hard they will crack your beak, and they will grind away in your tummy like river stones.’
Ruthie was hungry, and she thought she could hear river stones in her tummy right now. It was too bad you couldn’t eat the pellets. Truth is, you couldn’t swing a cat by the tail without hitting a pellet tree, if you were the sort of person who would swing a cat by the tail.
‘How did all the trees get here, momma?’
‘People visited and they planted the trees and they harvest the pellets every year for birdies that don’t get to eat very good food.’
Ruthie was beginning to believe she would not like people very much. She wondered if there were any nice people at all among the stick shakers and cat swingers, and anybody that would swing a cat by the tail would probably swing a birdie as well. Ruthie didn’t think that would be very nice, unless they came and gave old lady ‘Too a good swing. She was the cockatoo that lived four trees over to the north, and many times she had kept Ruthie and her family awake late into the night while she bickered on about some birdies transgression. Old lady ‘Too was one grouchy bird, and Ruthie giggled at the thought of someone giving the old bat a swing by her tail.
As Ruthie peered over the side of the nest she heard a faint chirping, and she looked about to see where it was coming from. There, in the tree next door to the east, was a little blue lovie with a face like hers, as black as coal with eyes that were even blacker. He peeped again, so Ruthie asked her momma who he was.
‘Oh, that’s Boaz, dear. He is a very nice little boy.’
‘Why is he peeping at me?’
‘He wants to be your friend. You can say hi to him if you want to.’
That was a very brave thing to do, to say hi to a total stranger, and Ruthie thought she had better leave that brave thing for another week. Peeking out of the nest was a very brave thing for this week, and that was enough. So instead of saying hello, Ruthie dove under her momma’s soft tummy and began her afternoon nap snuggled close and warm with her two brothers.
A few days later in the late afternoon, Ruthie’s momma and daddy went off to a birdie council meeting. They needed to discuss the pellets that were fouling the little stream and come up with a plan. The water had begun to taste downright ghastly, and they thought the floating pellets must be the culprits. Ruthie and her brothers were left alone in the little nest, so they played amongst themselves, waiting for their momma and daddy to return. At one point, Ruthie stretched her neck to look out the nest to see if Boaz was looking her way and she heard him give her the same little cheep that he had last week. Ruthie was not quite ready to say hello to him, but she was giving it some thought.
Just then she heard a loud, kerplunk, from right behind her. There in the nest sat a bright yellow pellet, which had just bounced off Ronaldo’s little head. Ronaldo cheeped out in terror and pain and soon Raul was peeping too. Ruthie began to chirp loudly; because every lovie knows that is what you do when something very scary has just happened. Old lady ‘Too took to scolding them from her perch, four trees to the north, for waking her from her late afternoon nap. The lovies ignored her and continued to cheep in terror. When they finally realized the pellet would do them no harm, they stopped the racket and began to contemplate.
‘What are we gonna do?’ shrieked Raul.
‘When pellets land in the nest, momma just kicks them out onto the ground.’ said Ronaldo, who was beginning to show the signs of a big lump forming on top of his little head. He was trying to pretend it didn’t hurt, but his black little eyes were rolling back in their sockets.
The three birdies tried to kick the pellet out of the nest, but succeeded only in hurting their tiny toes. While the three of them were pondering what to do next, Ruthie realized she was feeling very hungry. Just a little nibble should be okay; her momma didn’t say the pellets were poison or anything. She also realized that she had not done her one very brave thing for the week, so without giving it a good think over she stuck out her tongue and gave the pellet a lick.
‘Oh, my dear lord with wings,’ she shrieked, ‘that is the most horrid thing I have ever tasted.’ She tried frantically to get the awful taste off her little tongue. Her tummy began to hurt and she felt a little faint. Just then, another pellet fell from the top branches and hit her atop her little head. Now a yellow pellet and a green pellet sat in their nest, and the green pellet had a few tiny black feathers stuck to it; feathers that had once been firmly planted in Ruthie’s head. Ruthie didn’t know which was worse, the pain on her head or the awful taste on her tongue or the churning in her tummy. She felt dizzy and sick and although her brothers were chirping up a storm in fear, she just wanted her momma to come and take care of her. So, the three little birds huddled close, waiting for their parents to come back and praying no more pellets plunked them on the head and hoping the pellets that were now in their nest didn’t take root and destroy their cozy home.
Soon momma did come home and she saw the bumps on Ronaldo and Ruthie’s heads. She also saw the two big pellets in her nest and hastily kicked them to the ground.
‘Oh, Ruthie dear, you look so pale.’ she said.
‘I tasted a pellet, momma, I don’t feel very well.’
‘Oh, my dear lord with feathers,’ said momma, ‘are you all right? How is your tummy? I know you are hungry and your daddy is looking for some good food for you and he will be home soon.’
‘I don’t think I can eat, momma, I feel sore in my tummy.’ cried Ruthie. ‘I just want to go for a nap.’
A big tear rolled down Ruthie’s tiny cheek, as she felt very sorry for herself. With that, Ruthie dove under her momma’s soft belly and drifted off to sleep, with a really bad taste on her little tongue and a bit of a grumble in her little tummy. Her daddy spent the whole rest of the day picking the pellets off the upper branches and throwing them to the ground. No more pellets were going to hit his little babies on the head while they sat snuggled in their nest.
As the weeks passed, Ruthie continued to do one very brave thing every week and on one of those weeks she mustered up the courage to say hello to the cute little boy in the nest in the tree that was just next door to the east. They had quite a few chats, from across the way and Ruthie was beginning to agree with her momma, that he was a very nice boy. Ruthie’s brothers were learning to fly, and she tried her very best to fly too. She noticed that Boaz was trying to fly and do you know where he flew to on that very first flight? That’s correct, he flew straight to Ruthie’s nest, to make her acquaintance right proper. They were becoming fast friends, and Ruthie was very happy about that.
One morning, not long after Boaz’s first visit, her parents returned from a birdie council meeting and they had a little family gathering. Ruthie’s daddy told the three babies that when they grew up they would probably have to leave the little island. The food was getting scarce because of the overgrowth of pellet trees, and it was decided that many birds would have to make the journey to find other homes in other lands. Ruthie’s momma told them that they would have to leave soon. Ruthie asked if her momma and daddy would come with her.
‘No,’ her momma answered, ‘you know your daddy’s wings are not strong from the early arthritis. He could never make the trip.’
Ruthie asked about the family she would have to go live with. ‘Will they be stick shakers and cat swingers, momma?’
Her momma laughed, ‘No, Ruthie, we will find you a very nice family to live with.’
‘Will they feed me pellets, momma? What if they have no good food and all they give me is pellets?’ she cried.
‘They might try, but you don’t have to eat them if you don’t want to. Not ever, not never, okay?’
Ruthie was very sad, and asked if Boaz could go with her instead. ‘I will speak to his momma about it, but I do think that would be all right.’
Time went on and Ruthie continued to try to fly. Her momma helped her, but her two brothers teased her mercilessly. Little Boaz was at her side and he was very kind. He told her what a great job she was doing and he encouraged her. She would lean forward on the perch and bob her little head and hold her wings out at her sides, but her toes just wouldn’t let go of the branch. She would then stand tall and flap her little wings as hard as she could and say to herself, ‘This is all I have to do, flap really, really hard and I will fly.’ But she was very afraid of the long fall to the ground, and wondered if she would survive the drop, and how she would get back to the nest if she did fall. After much effort, and when Boaz saw how hard she was trying and how afraid she was he would say, ‘That’s okay, Ruthie, we will try again tomorrow. You are just not ready yet.’ Hearing that made Ruthie feel very safe, that she had a friend who understood her and didn’t push her too fast. She was glad that Boaz was going to be leaving the island with her. If she couldn’t have her momma and daddy with her, she would be fine with little Boaz looking out for her.
That’s how Ruthie and Boaz came to be living with their new momma, Heather. Ruthie did finally learn to fly and they set out early one morning after many tears and farewells from their families. Raul went to live in America, and Ronaldo set off for Australia. Little Ruthie wanted to go somewhere exotic, but Boaz knew her wings were not strong. He feared she might have the same early arthritis her daddy had so they chose instead to fly to a place much closer, and the United Kingdom sounded exotic enough. The feathers never did grow back thick on Ruthie’s head, even after the bump from the wayward pellet went away. She still has bad dreams about that pellet, how it hurt when it hit her and how awful it tasted. And she still has days where she is very self-conscience about the thin feathers atop her pretty little head.
Ruthie has never seen her new momma, Heather, ever swing a cat by its tail and she doubted her momma would ever shake a stick at a birdie, even thought old lady Crow down the street said she seen her do it more than once. Ruthie thought of old lady ‘Too every time she heard Mrs. Crow jabber on and she figured if her momma ever did shake a stick at the crow, she probably deserved it. Boaz still takes very good care of her, and encourages her not to be so afraid, and she still does one very brave thing every week, just like she promised herself.
One day, she thinks she might even get brave enough to fly over to her new momma Heather, and sit on her shoulder. Maybe she will do it and sit there for a whole minute one of these days. Yes, maybe one of these days when she is feeling very brave. Maybe one of these days very soon.